Safety is key when choosing a new small car in the US, and the crash protection credentials can make or break a model – literally… This latest batch of tests carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that you really can’t go wrong in choosing any of the compacts available.

Out of a selection of 12 models recently tested, half of them earned a ‘good’ or ‘acceptable’ rating, and of these, the two Civics, the Dodge Dart, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Scion tC, all earned the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.

At the other end of the tables, the Volkswagen Beetle fared quite badly, because as the official report puts it, “vehicles tend to rotate and slide sideways during this type of collision, and that can move the driver’s head outboard, away from the protection of the front airbag. If the dummy misses the airbag or slides off of it, the head and chest are unprotected.”

The Kia Forte and Soul also rated poorly, and so did the Chevy Sonic, whose airbag suffered from a delay and inflated too late to provide adequate protection – “only those in the Elantra, Civics and Scion tC offered sufficient forward coverage.”

Finally, we will leave you with a word of wisdom from the Institute’s chief research officer, David Zuby. He said: “”Manufacturers need to focus on the whole package,” so “That means a strong occupant compartment that resists the kinds of intrusion we see in a frontal crash like this, safety belts that prevent a driver from pitching too far forward and side curtain airbags to cushion a head at risk of hitting the dashboard or window frame.”

You can also check out videos of the cars crashed, something you can do yourself, actually, in the world of simulated reality.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO